This Week’s Featured Show(s)

Oh record releases in Houston. This summer has seen more releases than you can shake a stick at. Go back and check the previews and it seems that (especially as we near the end of this summer) we’ve had a flood in the Bayou City of new material from local artists and this weekend brings up two of the summer’s most anticipated releases from Grandfather Child and Featherface. (Note – I will have interviews posted soon with both bands.)

The legions of Grandfather Child fans already know the band’s line-up makes them the Voltron of local bands and their unique tip o’ the hat to various genres like Blues, Soul, Psychedelia, Country, Jazz and Death Metal (OK maybe not that last one) makes them easily one of Houston’s best and unique exports. Featherface is another band who easily stand out as one of Houston’s best bands. The band pulls from classic rock and R&B influences but what comes out of them is something wholly unique in Houston. What is most exciting about Featherface’s newest release is that the band is still in a wild evolutionary phase and, in contrast to the well defined journeyman sound of Grandfather Child, we’re not quite sure where the band is going to go with their new album but if live shows and their first single (see video below) is any indication, it should prove to be a release that takes a lot of chances and isn’t afraid to expand what the band can accomplish. I for one am looking forward to hearing both releases this weekend.

Thursday, August 30

New Music Improvisations, featuring Kathy Fay/Adam Vincent Clay & Fist of Kong @ Avant Garden (7-9PM; free!) - Fay and Clay will play night music with improvised and prepared harp and piano along with field recordings. Neat!

Southern Backtones @ Cha – Schyma lama ding dong

Nick Gaitan & the Umbrella Man @ The Big Top – The most bad ass of Houston Bass players.

Killing Clover, A Spanish Disposition, Gnar World Order @ Mango’s - get your punky punk on you punk!

Sons of Fathers @ McGonigel’s Mucky Duck – San Marcos duo who made the horrible nay unforgivable mistake of calling themselves by their own last names – Beck and Cauthen. That didn’t sit too well with Beck’s legal folks. Odelay!

Steel Drivers, The Abrams Brothers @ Miller Outdoor Theatre (free!) – I hope the rains don’t spoil the picnic for these Bluegrass from Kingston and Nashville.

Covenant, The Break Up @ Numbers (8-11PM) – Swedish sythpop dudes that go back to 1986! Yes, some of you were not even born! Freaky ,isn’t it?!

Morgan Page, Surain, Vance Lawrence @ Stereo Live – Cali DJ who has re-mixed more people than should be allowable.

Labor Day Weekend Block Party, featuring the last place you look, From Guts to Glory, Artificial, & Luminosity @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake) – The bearded one hit’s my old digs. You know that when i was growing up, Clear Lake was still not part of Houston? Yup, they even had deer roaming about when the bus took you to school!

Bellamy Brothers @ Dosey Doe Coffee Company (The Woodlands) – How many bands can say that Neil Diamond’s roadie wrote them a #1 hit song?

Friday -Sunday, August 31 – September 2 – The Midtown Men @ Jones Hall – If you stay home Saturday nights to watch PBS, then these stars of the Broadway show Jersey Boys will likely be right up your alley. I will refrain from any further commentary on this.

Saturday, September 1

The Tontons, Featherface, Quiet Company @ Warehouse Live – Cray Cray Cray good triple bill. Featherface is making this a kind of album release and we are all super stoked for it. We will have an interview with them up soon.

Def Leppard, Poison, Lita Ford @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion - One decent 80s pop metal band, the worst example of 80’s hair metal, and a rocker who I always wanted to like more than I really did because she was in the Runaways.

Recovery Room, John Lefler, Language Room, The Satellite Brigade @ Fitzgerald’s - It sounds pretty primordial in it’s evolution so I’m not sure how to go on this one. I’ll just say it has some rough edges but at the same time it has some potential and leave it at that.

CCSD’s Houston’s Worst Tattoo Party, featuring Johnny Falstaff, Dead End Cowboys, & Steve Straker @ Rudyard’s (4PM) – Thank goodness someone found a way to celebrate awful tattoos. I can only imagine what people will show off.